25 March, 2016

'9/11 was a gift to the NSA ...'

This was
probably the most impressive revelation derived by the documentary A Good American watched by the blog at the 18th
Documentary Festival of Thessaloniki.

The
exceptional documentary by Friedrich Moser deconstructs completely
the image of the National Security Agency, one of the most powerful
intelligence agencies in the world. Through the revealing stories of
former NSA employees who became whistleblowers - like William Binney, Diane Roark
and Thomas Andrews Drake -
the agency appears that it has become a field of personal ambitions
and money hunting through huge funds from the central government.

Moreover,
the experienced, top analyst, William Binney (who is the central
figure of the documentary), deconstructs the myth of an organization
that is supposed to be pioneer in new technologies. He presents NSA
as an organization which had certain difficulties to follow the
explosive progress of the computer technology during 1990s, in order
to modernize its obsolete equipment as fast as possible.

But the most
mind-blowing revelation comes from Binney's NSA colleague Thomas
Drake. At one point, Drake recalls how a Senior Military Officer
dismissed Osama bin Laden as “a raghead spouting off about a
fatwa in the desert” in response to their intelligence reports
on Al Qaeda in the late 90s. After the events of 9/11, Drake quotes
his former NSA boss Maureen Baginski who reportedly said “9/11
was a gift to the NSA, we’re gonna get all the money we need and
then some.” [1]

Although one
could claim that behind this story is hidden a conflict of interest
concerning two rival projects proposed to the NSA, there is plenty of
evidence that ThinThread,
the project developed by a small group around Binney, was rejected
against Trailblazer, only
because Trailblazer was promoted by a powerful lobby inside the NSA.

Indeed, as
also presented in the documentary: NSA whistleblowers J.
Kirk Wiebe, William Binney, Ed
Loomis, and House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence staffer Diane Roark complained to the Department of
Defense's Inspector General (IG) about waste, fraud, and abuse in the
program, and the fact that a successful operating prototype existed,
but was ignored when the Trailblazer program was launched. The
complaint was accepted by the IG and an investigation began that
lasted until mid-2005 when the final results were issued. The
results were largely hidden, as the report given to the public was
heavily (90%) redacted, while the original report was heavily
classified, thus restricting the ability of most people to see it.
[2]

Additionally,
in July 2007, armed FBI agents raided the homes of Roark, Binney, and
Wiebe, the same people who had filed the complaint with the DoD
Inspector General in 2002. Binney claims they pointed guns at his
wife and himself. Wiebe said it reminded him of the Soviet Union.
None of these people were charged with any crimes. In November 2007,
there was a raid on Drake's residence. His computers, documents, and
books were confiscated. He was never charged with giving any
sensitive information to anyone; the charge actually brought against
him is for 'retaining' information. The FBI tried to get Roark to
testify against Drake; she refused. [3]

The
documentary also reveals that the project ThinThreadnot only was much cheaper, but had two additional
advantages: it was much more effective and was designed to protect
the personal data of millions of citizens who were not related with
terrorist activity.

Although NSA
leadership rejected ThinThread
three weeks prior to 9/11, in a secret test-run of the program
against the pre-9/11-NSA database in early 2002, the program
immediately found the terrorists. [4]

No
one should expect intelligence agencies to be composed by "angels"
who follow strictly a moral code. The dirty role of US and other
agencies around the world for many decades is well known.

Yet,
this documentary uncovers something much worse. Nothing has left from
the original mission that the NSA supposedly serves. The protection
of citizens against terrorist attacks has become irrelevant in front
of the big money targeted by the corrupted groups of interests inside
the agency. It seems that nothing has been remained unaffected from
the rotten culture of "money and power above all and by all
means" that dominates in today's societies.